A Bad Day
by Zelda
Summary: The three Eds are left in shock after one attacks another for seemingly no reason. Not a happy fic.
1. Just the Same

Author's note: Yeah, this is kinda bad stuff for a show geared to little kids, hence the rating. There's blood, violence, and angst within. Please don't flame, I think that this one's justified actually, it highlights little things I've picked up on in the show. Eddy's a pretty angry kid, when he gets riled, ya know. Dunno what inspired me to write this, probably one too many watchings of those Ed-boys. Not my first E-E-nE fic, but the first I've gotten to post here. Enjoy!

A Bad Day

Written by Zelda

Part One – Just the Same

                He was far more vexed than usual, and Edd noticed this instantly as Eddy slammed the door behind him. His face was almost beet red, and he forgot to take his shoes off as he entered, dropping his bookbag on the floor. It was almost customary to have Eddy and Ed stop off at Edd's house after school, it was right on the end of the cul-de-sac, and without Edd's parents around, served as a good place to unwind after a day of classes. 

                "Eddy, please, your shoes!" Edd reminded him, proceeding for the kitchen for something to drink. "And where is Ed? Why didn't he walk back with us?"

                "Detention." Eddy growled. "Tried to make an omlette in Home Ec. and ended up going crazy about chickens again."

                "Heh!" Edd giggled, a hand over his face. "When will he ever stop?" He looked back, and had his face drop a little as he noticed Eddy sitting on his couch, brooding. He still looked furious. "Eddy? Whatever's the matter?"

                Eddy turned and shot his friend a death glare. "Oh, you wouldn't get it, Double D. _Don't bother_." he hissed, as if the words were laced with venom.

                Frowning slightly at this, Edd took a few steps back towards the living room. "What wouldn't I understand, Eddy? What's wrong?"

                "It's _nothing_ Double D." Eddy repeated, still growling, but turning back to stare at a blank and empty television screen. 

                "It certainly sounds like something…" Edd started, continuing back for the couch, and sitting on it as well. "You didn't get detention too, did you? You know what'll happen if you miss it!"

                "_No _sockhead, I didn't." Eddy narrowed his eyes, as if he were trying to block Edd out. "Just shut up Double D. It's somethin' _you'd_ never have to worry about."

                Confused, Edd screwed up his face a little. "I don't understand Eddy…"

                "Want me to spell it out for you?" Eddy shoved himself up and snatched his bookbag off of the floor. "Of course, I wouldn't be able to get half a sentence out without you correcting my grammar in the process…" Before Edd could respond, Eddy pulled a single sheet of paper from his bag, and shoved it into his friend's face. 

                Edd had to put his hands over Eddy's and push the paper back slightly so that he could read it. It was difficult, Eddy was forcing it closer. "Why," he remarked. "This looks very much like an exam paper, and--- oh my…." Edd had halted upon seeing a large 'F' penned in red and circled in the paper's upper right hand corner.

                "Yes sockhead. I got an F. _Another_ F."

                "But Eddy, that's a failing grade, and---"

                "I KNOW that!" Eddy yelled, yanking the paper away and shoving it back in his bag with nearly a punch. "You think I don't _know_ that?"

                "My Eddy, I'm sorry to hear that…" Edd started. Eddy was right, Edd couldn't recall the last time that he had done so poorly on a test. He searched for something to say.

                "Oh, not as sorry as I am." Eddy threw up an arm, tossing the bookbag away. "You know what I'm gonna go through when my mom sees this? Do you know what she's gonna say?" As he spoke, he leaned in closer to Edd, until he was hissing right into his face. "Go ahead sockhead, guess. There's something that you _don't_ know!"

                "Y—you would be correct, Eddy…" Edd stuttered slightly. "I cannot predict how your parents would react to---"

                "Hah!" Eddy drew back with a dark chuckle. "Then I'm gonna get to teach YOU something, genius. I know exactly what mom'll say. She'll say: 'Eddy, why can't you concentrate more on your studies? They're _sooooo_ important.'"

                "Well, she'd be correct Eddy, they are important----"

                "Stop interrupting me!" Eddy yelled at him, balling his fists. Edd shifted nervously back on the couch as Eddy continued to pull his face closer. "I wasn't finished, sockhead. She's gonna say: 'why can't you be more like your friend Edward? You spend _soooo_ much time with him, you'd think he would have rubbed off on you by now!'"

                "Eddy." Edd started, frowning slightly. "I find it hard to believe that your parents would tell you this…"  
                "They don't have to Double D, I know they're thinking it anyway!" he snarled. "Do you have any _idea_ how hard I've gotta try in school? Do you have any idea the way my mom's gonna look at me when I haveta show her another F?" His voice suddenly dropped from a near yell to a near whisper. "Or do you know what my _dad's_ gonna do? After he gets home from work? And my mom shows him that paper? No…" he started, his voice rising again. "I know _just_ what he'll do. I'll be in my room and he'll yell, low at first, and then louder so that he's louder than my records. And he'll yell: 'Eddy! Eddy!'" His voice rose in volume, making Edd shudder for a moment, and continue to retreat along the couch. "'You get out here this moment young man! You and I have a LOT to discuss!--- A LOT!---'" He quickly looked down at the floor, eyes wide as if he were in disbelief. 

                "Eddy…" Edd began in a tone that was softened my his concern. "I'm sorry that you did badly…"

                "Sorry nothing!" Eddy turned on him suddenly, his eyes restored to their former fury. "They don't have to say it Edd! I know what they want from me! They want me to do what I _can't_ do!"

                Brows still knitted, Edd stood halfway and began to inch back along the couch, a hand reached out for his friend's shoulder. "It's alright Eddy, we all have difficulty adjusting to academic situations---"

                "Not ALL, just ME!" Eddy fumed, and then pointed a finger at him. "You should be the one to talk sockhead, you know-it-all! You're always at the head of the class, you know everything!!"

                "I couldn't possibly know every---"

                "Shut up!" Eddy snarled, suddenly leaning in closer to Edd again. "I'm sick and tired of it! You're ALWAYS throwing that _intelligence_ at us, always bossing ME around, always trying to tell ME what to do!" In a move that was as quick as it was purely impulsive, Eddy reached out with both hands and grabbed Edd's collar, pulling him up. 

                Edd squeaked in panic and jerked away, but found himself held fast in Eddy's grip. "Eddy, please!" he squealed, eyes ringing up.

                "Oh, you're gonna tell me what to do now too, aren't you?! That I'm not _good_ enough, that I can't figure it out, I can't make it work!" Eddy yelled right back in his face. "Just like my parents, you're _just the same_! Just shut up!!"

                Edd tried to choke out a response, when Eddy shook him violently, rattling his head back and forth. The boy was lost in a blur of shock and surprise, along with his blurred vision and dull pain, as if he could feel his brain slam into the front and back ends of his skull. 

                "Not so happy now, are you?" Eddy yelled, pulling him up farther. "And you can't do ANYTHING about it! You're not gonna tell me who's best anymore!!" His pent-up frustration was almost tangible, along with the daggers in his words. 

                Terrified at this point, all that Edd could do in his own defense was stammer. The thought to reach up and try to pry Eddy's hands away never had the chance to enter his mind.

                Infuriated even more by Edd's attempt at speech, Eddy hefted him up bodily and tossed him off of the couch, sending Edd tumbling to the floor. "Shut UP!"

                Gasping in panic, Edd scrambled uselessly, clawing for purchase on the waxed floor. All he could see were Eddy's shoed feet as he stormed up to him. "Eddy stop!---"

                "You think you're gonna pull one of those stupid tricks of yours on me again?!" Eddy yelled. "You're not so witty NOW are you?"

                Edd opened his mouth to reply, staring up in terror at his friend, when he suddenly had his field of vision disintegrate to stars, as a blunt stab of pain radiated through his stomach. He let out a choked gasp, frozen as he felt his shirt being pulled again. 

                Eddy was only using one hand this time, lifting and dragging Edd by the collar of his shirt. Edd made no protest beneath him, stiff as a board and gagging for air as the band of fabric tightened against his throat. Eddy was being driven on nothing now but pure adrenaline, feeling nothing around him. There was only an immense sense of power, power that he'd never had before. The power to stand up for himself, to finally have some sort of response to that which he'd had to take silently for so, so long. It was thrilling, exhilarating, strengthening. And through it, the short boy found the energy to grab Edd's collar with another hand and heft him again, watching as the shaking body went squeaking across the floor, halted only by colliding with Eddy's backpack. He watched with satisfaction for a moment, but then the fury returned tenfold as he saw Edd start to move, reaching an arm out for him, opening his mouth as if he were to speak again. Not waiting for the pain of those words, Eddy shifted his weight and sent his foot into the boy's stomach again, harder this time. _That would shut him up_. And indeed, it looked like it had! Finally, success! Edd now lay in a shaking ball at Eddy's feet, and the boy watched in thrilling triumph as he tried to curl up, arms clenched around his middle, gasping for air with his eyes open wide, ringed. Puffing his chest out with his final victory, Eddy leaned over and hissed in Edd's ear. "_Now you know. You're just the same_." Unceremoniously he reached over, seeing Edd flinch as he did so, and grabbed the handle of his bookbag. He pulled it sharply away, and sent Edd's head, which was resting on it, thunking against the wood floor. The sound sent another surge of electricity through Eddy, and he quickly shouldered his bag, not bothering to look back or to speak another word as he stepped over Edd, opened the door, and shut it behind him. 

End of Part One

(*covers head with arms and cowers* Eeep, don't hate me! Double D's my favorite! He's so adorable, the poor kid. Fear not, things only go uphill from here, providing that there **is** an uphill and that I don't get flamed off of ff.net first!)


	2. Solace

A Bad Day

Written by Zelda

Part Two – Solace

                The first thing that occurred to Ed, after about five minutes of ringing the doorbell, was that nobody was answering. He chuckled lightly and banged hard on the door. "Come on guys, open up!" he smirked, looking around. Had they forgotten to wait up for him? Curious, Ed tried the doorknob, to find that the door had already been unlocked. They must have been waiting if they did that! Grinning from ear to ear, Ed proceeded to swing the door open wide and charge inside. "I am here guys!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, looking up the stairs to Edd's room. There was no response from the stairwell, but he did hear something off to his left. Ed glanced over and saw something lying on the floor about ten feet before him, highlighted by three streaks of sunlight that poured in from little windows in the top of the door. Ed gasped as he realized that the 'something' was actually Edd! "Ho ho!" he laughed. "No naptime for Double D!" he skipped towards his friend when he heard his shoe squeak in something. Automatically he froze, knowing what trouble wearing shoes would get him in this house. "Whoops!" He bent double to untie his sneakers when he noticed something red on the floor, that something that had caused his shoes to squeak in the first place. Curious, Ed swiped a finger through the liquid, and was even more confused to recognize it as blood. He looked up, following the streak along the floor, right up to—"Double D…?" he started, frowning. Forgetting about his shoes, Ed stood again and paced up to Edd, squatting beside him. 

                Edd cracked his eyes open slightly, his sight swimming, the pain still stabbing at him like a thousand tiny needles in his gut. He managed to gasp for air, maybe get something understandable to wrest itself from his throat. But he could recognize Ed: big, powerful, hopelessly ignorant Ed, as he now stared back at him wide-eyed. 

                "Double D?" he repeated again, struggling for words himself.

                Edd coughed again, his throat dry. "P---please Ed---" he stammered, his voice ruined. "Help---me up---"

                Without any further question, Ed shifted closer to his friend, and gently pulled him up by his shoulders. He could feel Edd cringe as he was moved, curling further, arms wrapping tighter around his stomach. Slowly, patiently, and with a delicacy that he rarely used, Ed pulled him up so that he could sit against him, as Ed kneeled on the floor.

                Edd bowed his head, eyes now squinted shut to keep his focus. Now, at least, it was easier to breathe, but the pain was still everywhere, tugging at his very consciousness, making him want to vomit. He took a hand away from gripping his stomach to help brace himself against the floor. 

                "Double D…" Ed spoke so quietly, that Edd wasn't even sure he had heard him at first. "What happened?"

                Through everything that was crowding his brain, Edd struggled to reply. He couldn't get enough air, he couldn't stop the pain, he felt as if he were on the verge of collapse. More than anything, he couldn't escape the massive confusion and lingering panic that Eddy's swift act of violence had left in him. How could he possibly explain to Ed? He had no answers even for himself. _He didn't know_. He felt so terribly vulnerable, as if he were alone in the middle of a dodgeball field full of opponents. But Ed's hands were gently on his shoulders. He twitched and coughed, something disgusting and coppery tasting in his mouth.

                "Double D…" Ed spoke again, realizing something. "You're bleeding…"

                So that was the taste. Edd's hand shook as he wiped the side of his mouth, opening his eyes a little wider to see the streak of blood left behind. He really wanted to throw up. 

                Slowly, Ed started to stand, trying to pull Edd with him. He frowned as Edd resisted, trying to stay curled, coughing out something which he didn't quite understand. So Ed bent down again and scooped Edd up, carrying him the short distance over to the couch and laying him down, so that his head was resting against an arm. Ed perched on the couch as well, watching carefully. "Double D." he tried again. "What happened? Where's Eddy?"

                The mention of his name sent a wave of fear through Edd again, causing him to shiver. "I--- I don't know…" he managed. "Home… maybe…"

                "But what happened to you Double D?" Ed asked. "Who did this?"

                Edd closed his eyes as he spoke, and realized that he was fighting back tears. "Eddy… did…"

                "No way." Ed frowned at him, confused. But Edd nodded back to him sadly, and Ed fell into the shock of surprise himself. "Why…?"

                "I don't know---" Edd coughed. "He… was angry… I guess…" 

                "At you?" Ed frowned.

                "I… don't know…" Edd confessed, a few tears leaking out. He quickly wiped them away with his arm, sniffling. 

                Ed folded his arms, growing visibly angry himself. "Eddy's a bad boy, Double D. I'm gonna go over there and teach him a lesson—"

                "No Ed, please, don't…" Edd leaned up slightly, looking back at him. "It's… only gonna get worse, if you do…" With a note of relief, he watched as Ed resettled on the couch, still looking at him intently. "Ed… would you… get me some ice, from the refrigerator?"

                "Sure thing Double D…" Ed stood up and shuffled away, out of sight. 

                Left to his own devices, with no distractions from  his pain, Edd started to cry silently again. By now, the emotional repercussions loomed far greater than the physical ones. The pain in his stomach was starting to fade, but he was left with so many terrible questions in his mind. Eddy, his best friend, had _attacked_ him. What sort of rational reasoning could account for something like that? Had Eddy really been mad at him? Had he really done something wrong? Should he apologize? Tears of frustration stung at his eyes, blurring his vision. Only faintly did he hear Ed shuffling around in his kitchen. 

                "I got the ice Double D!" Ed called to him as he came scuffling back across the floor, sitting heavily on the couch again.

                Edd rolled over slightly onto his back, took the plastic bag full of ice, and settled it gently on his stomach. The cold sent a growing wave of physical relief over him, and he relaxed a little, closing his eyes again. "Thank you Ed…" he sighed. 

                Ed blinked and nodded back at him, and snuggled back a little into the couch. There was a lot going on in his fogged-over brain at the moment. "Did he really hurt you, Double D?"

                "I… don't think he realized… what he was doing, Ed." Edd shook his head a little. That had to be it. A flash of insanity, a temporary loss of reason. Eddy couldn't have really meant what he had said and done, could he? The most terrible question that plagued the boy was what happened next. What was he going to do, huddle on the couch and cry all day? What would Mother and Father say, whenever he got to see them next? And what was Eddy going to do? What if he wasn't crazy after all, if he had really meant it? Shivering again, Edd wiped a little more blood from his mouth and squinted his eyes shut, wishing that this day had never happened.

End of Part Two

(Yeah I know, 'twas short, but I can't have the poor boys suffering too much, can I? Don't worry, there's another side to this story, but you'll have to wait for the next part!)


	3. Forgiven

A Bad Day

Written by Zelda

Part Three: Forgiven

                Eddy snarled and hurled his bookbag onto his bed, his door sealing shut behind him, locking him in the relative darkness of his room. He just wished that this whole day had never happened! That he'd never gone to school, that he'd never taken that test! And later he'd be wishing that his parents never found out. Those two would _never_ be satisfied with him, no matter what he did, no matter how he tried! Eddy slumped into a chair and pounded his fist on a desk. His brother said that there would be days like this. And he wished that this day had never happened. Musing, Eddy wondered how he could get that little test paper to go away. His parents would get suspicious if they didn't see the bi-weekly test paper on the refrigerator door. Maybe he could get Victor to eat it for him. Maybe he could get Double D to dissolve it in a vat of acid. Or maybe he could get Ed to forge his mother's signature on the paper, so that he could turn it back in to the teacher and avoid getting in trouble yet again. That was it, Ed and Double D would know how to bail him out. Some relief finally coming to his frayed nerves, Eddy hopped down off his chair and walked over to his bed, pulling his bookbag open to search for the test paper. Eddy suddenly frowned and pulled his hand away, something sticky rubbing off on it. Had he spilled soda on his bag again? His shades were down and blocking out the sunlight, so Eddy reached over and switched on a lamp to see better. He was shocked when he found the sticky stuff on his hand to be red. Blood red. "What the---" Eddy started. "Where'd the heck this come from…?" And then it started to come back to him. The past ten minutes or so had vanished into an angry haze, but he remembered walking home with Double D, going inside his house with him. And then they had started talking…. and then--- "Aww man…" Eddy slapped his forehead with his clean hand. "Did I really…?" he stared at the bloodstain on his bag, unbelieving. Just how hard had he hit his friend? "Jeez… I…" Eddy left his bag on his bed and stood up, wiping his hand clean with a tissue. He thought about calling Double D's house, but why would he answer the phone now? Eddy sighed and opened his door again, squinting into the light of the setting sun as he ran out into the lane.

                He knocked frantically a few times, and heard some movement inside. Eddy would normally have been content to wait on Edd's doorstep, but at this stage he was too nervous to even stand still. He twisted the handle, found the door to be already open, and walked in. His eyes started across the room, and before he could open his mouth to call out, he spotted Ed's flat head poking up from the couch. "Ed!" he started, scurrying over. "W---where's Double D?" His feet squeaked in something, and he looked down to see a half-cleaned streak of blood across the wood floor. By the time his shocked eyes shifted back to Ed, the taller boy had moved into a far more defensive stance. Eddy sidestepped the stain on the floor, coming around the side of the couch, and saw exactly what Ed was protecting. Edd was curled against the opposite arm of the couch, cowering from Eddy as if he were a small puppy before a man with a rolled-up newspaper.

                "You've been a _bad_ boy, Eddy." Ed growled quietly, his tone completely serious.

                "I--- I know--- I didn't mean it!" Eddy stuttered. "Is.. he okay?"

                Edd replied by sitting up a little, opening his eyes and looking back. He had a plastic bag full of ice over his stomach. "I… think so, Eddy…" he started, sounding like a mouse with a sore throat. He was nearly shivering out of fear.

                "God Double D… I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to---" Eddy stammered, taking a few steps closer, holding his hand out in some sort of consoling manner.

                In response, Ed frowned, snorting as if he were an ox. He wanted Eddy to keep his distance.

                "Eddy…" Edd started, trying to straighten himself up into a normal sitting position. "I… I don't understand. Why?"

                "I… I dunno…" Eddy suddenly found himself at a loss. That was something he should have asked himself before. "I… I remember what I said to you, Double D, I dunno what came over me, none of it was true, I swear!" 

                "Eddy." Ed growled. "You _hurt_ Double D."

                God, he really did, didn't he? He didn't think that he had kicked him that hard… Jeez, how could he? He had frightened, and hurt, really hurt, his best friend! Eddy internally felt like ripping himself into pieces at the moment. He wished this day had never happened.

                "I'm sorry---" he stuttered. "I got mad---- it wasn't your fault Double D, it never was… I just---" Eddy realized that his eyes were hurting him, stinging because tears were welling up in them. He shook his head and blinked hard, an instinctive pride kicking in, not wanting to let the others see him crying. Not winning the battle he knew he shouldn't have to fight in the first place, Eddy slunk to the other end of the couch, and sat down, staring at the floor. "I don't know how to explain guys---- I've just been angry… I never wanted to hurt ya Double D…. I'm so sorry."

                In a cautious response, Edd sat up a little more, removing the bag of ice from his stomach. "These… outbursts of frustration are actually quite a common characteristic of adolescent behavior, Eddy…" Eddy looked back at him, and since it didn't look like he wanted to plant his foot into his gut again, Edd decided to continue. "I believe that… your true source of anger stems from relations with your parents… and social constructs created by the educational environment?"

                "Ummm, I think so." Eddy screwed up his face, trying to decipher Edd's statement.

                "So you lashed out at me… because…" Here, Edd stopped. He had run out of an explanation. Now even he was at a loss for words.

                "I… I dunno why… I just had a really bad day, a lot of really bad days. It's… not anyone's fault." Eddy admitted, fiddling with a shoelace. "But I swear, Double D, I never meant to hurt you… I won't do it again…"

                "I believe you, Eddy." Edd said softly. "We… we're friends, after all, all of us." 

                Ed nodded at this point, and joined the two on the couch. 

                "You… you do?" Eddy was surprised by Edd's willingness to forgive. After all, Eddy had spent the earlier part of the day kicking him in the ribs! He really must have trusted him, to go and say that.

                "Yeah…" Edd replied. "I think both Ed and I can sympathize with how you felt… Just… don't beat me up again, 'kay?" He trailed off during the last part of his sentence, the twinge of fear in his voice returning.

                It killed Eddy to hear that. Edd was always flighty. But he shouldn't have to be afraid of _him_, of all people. "I promise Double D, really…" he nodded, placing a hand over his heart and hoping that he looked genuine for once. He wasn't sure if it was working, Edd regarded him for a moment, before he nodded slowly.

                "Okay Eddy." he spoke, smiling a little as he did so. "I believe you. You know… if you're really that frustrated about school, maybe I could help?"

                "How?" Eddy looked at him.

                "Maybe I could, well, tutor you…" Edd started trailing off, becoming visibly nervous again. 

                "Heh." Eddy chuckled. "If you could rub off any of your genius on me, I'd be set for life." 

                For the first time in what seemed like too long a time, all three of them smiled, and the bruises seemed to disappear altogether.

The End

(Yup, that's all folks. Don't kill me for writing this! Run Plank!)


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